[lug] smartphone question

[Davide Del Vento]

Hi,

your use case makes perfect sense, and with it, price is not an issue.

However, not everybody is like you (and glad that you get enough
"bars" on the hiking trail...)

Let me just comment on this:

> Service is not free.

I just checked how much would it cost to get internet on the phone
with my favorite carrier in Italy (called "Wind"). Either 9 euro/month
or 1 euro/day for a 14Mbps unlimited traffic plan, all taxes and fees
included, on any technically compatible handset of your choice, no
string attached, no contract, no early termination fees (since there
isn't any contract), no need to have a voice or text plan too, no
nothing. Well, there is speed throttling after a 1GB download limit,
but no black-out, nor additional costs, just reduced speed. I'll bet
the other 2 Italian carriers, have similar pricing, probably with
slightly different numbers.

I still can't understand why US carriers can't make better prices,
despite their size. I suspect it's just because customers pay anyway,
so no reason to reduce their profits ;-)
Meanwhile, I won't have a smarphone (and I have a pay-as-you-go
voice-only phone, with an handset bought in Italy...)

Bye,
Davide